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LXX Exodus

Septuagint

About this book
Chapter 19

1 And in the third month of the departure of the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, on the same day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 And they departed from Rephidim, and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and there Israel encamped before the mountain. 3 And Moses went up⁠ to the mount of God, and God called him [from heaven], saying, These things you will say to the house of Jacob, and you shall report them to the children of Israel. 4 You have seen all that I have done to the Egyptians, and I took you up as upon eagles' wings, and I brought you near to myself. 5 And now if you will indeed hear my voice, and keep my covenant, you shall be to me a special people above all nations;⁠ for the whole earth is mine. 6 And you shall be to me a royal priesthood and a holy nation:⁠ these words you will speak to the children of Israel. 7 And Moses came and called the elders of the people, and he set before them all these words, which God appointed him. 8 And all the people answered with one accord, and said, All things that God has spoken, we will do and listen to: and Moses reported the words of the people to God. 9 And the Lord said to Moses, Look! I come to you in a pillar of a cloud, that the people may hear me speaking to you, and may believe you for ever: and Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. 10 And the Lord said to Moses, Go down and solemnly charge the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments. 11 And let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will descend upon mount Sinai before all the people. 12 And you shall separate the people all around, saying, Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up into the mountain, nor touch any part of it: every one that touches the mountain shall surely die. 13 A hand shall not touch it, for every one that touches shall be stoned with stones or shot through with a dart, whether beast or whether man, it shall not live: when the voices and trumpets and cloud depart from the mountain, they shall come up on the mountain. 14 And Moses went down from the mountain to the people, and sanctified them, and they washed their clothes. 15 And he said to the people, Be ready: for three days do not come near to a woman. 16 And it happened on the third day, as the morning drew near, there were voices and lightnings and a dark cloud on mount Sinai: the voice of the trumpet sounded loud, and all the people in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses led the people forth out of the camp to meet God, and they stood by under the mountain. 18 The mount of Sinai was altogether smoking, because God had descended upon it in fire; and the smoke went up as the smoke of a furnace, and all the people were exceedingly amazed. 19 And the sounds of the trumpet were growing very much louder. Moses spoke, and God answered him with a voice. 20 And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai on the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. 21 And God spoke to Moses, saying, Go down, and solemnly charge the people, for fear that at any time they draw near to God to gaze, and a multitude of them fall. 22 And let the priests that draw near to the Lord God sanctify themselves, for fear that the Lord might destroy some of them. 23 And Moses said to God, The people will not be able to approach to the mount of Sinai, for you have solemnly charged us, saying, Set bounds to the mountain and sanctify it. 24 And the Lord said to him, Go, descend, and come up you and Aaron with you; but let not the priests and the people force their way to come up to God, for fear that the Lord might destroy some of them. 25 And Moses went down to the people, and spoke to them.

Texts in conversation

Compare LXX Exodus 19:6 and 1 Peter 2:9

Septuagint · New Testament

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Summary

1 Peter quotes the Greek Septuagint translation of Exodus 19, calling its audience a royal priesthood and a holy nation. By echoing this covenant text, the letter places its community in continuity with Israel’s story and identity.

Passages

LXX Exodus 19:6

Septuagint
4 You have seen all that I have done to the Egyptians, and I took you up as upon eagles' wings, and I brought you near to myself. 5 And now if you will indeed hear my voice, and keep my covenant, you shall be to me a special people above all nations; for the whole earth is mine. 6 And you shall be to me a royal priesthood and a holy nation: these words you will speak to the children of Israel. 7 And Moses came and called the elders of the people, and he set before them all these words, which God appointed him. 8 And all the people answered with one accord, and said, All things that God has spoken, we will do and listen to: and Moses reported the words of the people to God.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Exodus

1 Peter 2:9

New Testament
7 So you who believe see his value, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, 8 and a stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 You once were not a people, but now you are God’s people. You were shown no mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul,
80–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Peter

References

"... Our earlier discussion of the renewed human vocation, as in Revelation 1, 5, and 20 and other parts of the New Testament, comes suddenly into new focus as a matter of history, not simply of literary imagination: here, through the suffering of the martyrs, the defeat of the pagans, and the cleansing the Temple is a kingdom of priests! The claim of the seventh brother in 2 Maccabees 7 emphasizes the first point. The victory and the cleansing came because the suffering of the martyrs somehow brought to an end the sufferings of the people as a whole, which had been caused by their sins. Now the victory over the pagans could begin. I do not suppose that the author of Revelation was consciously alluding to the Hasmonean priest-kings. Nor do I imagine that 1 Peter 2:9, which also invokes Exodus 19:6, had in mind the claims of that dynasty, which by the middle of the first century AD had passed into ignominious history, having failed to prevent the Roman invasion, the rise of Herod, and many other ills. But the parallel does indicate the ways in which the larger implicit story of Israel, anchored in the ancient scriptures, could be brought back to life not just in theory but also in concrete practice. The hundred-year reign of the Maccabean priest-kings may be seen as a distant cousin of the thousand-year reign of the Messiah’s people, the “reigning priesthood,” in Revelation 20:6 ..."
N. T. Wright, The Day the Revolution Began: Reconsidering the Meaning of Jesus's Crucifixion (San Francisco: HarperOne, 2016), 152.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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LXX Exodus 19:6 and 1 Peter 2:9

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